The IRS told a tale:
A Taxpayer creates a secure Business Online Account at IRS.gov and lets us know which communications methods they prefer – email, paper mail or phone. The taxpayer selects email. They later receive an email explaining tax credits and deductions for which they may be eligible. Their online account gives them access to easy-to-read data to start this year’s tax return. They have questions about how to file employment tax returns. A chatbot provides initial answers, and if they have specific questions, they can request a call from an agent. An agent calls them back, reviews their account history with them, and answers their questions. The taxpayers then prepare their own return. When they submit a return online, taxpayers get a real-time alert that shows easy-to-fix errors. They correct the errors and re-submit the return. After they file, they use their online account to track refund status and adjust preferences. They opt to receive their refund via direct deposit.
This vision of the tax filing process is not quite as ambitious in its simplicity as a taxpayer replying “Yes” to a text sent by the government (as some Swedes do), and at this time even this more mundane plan the IRS put out remains science fiction. However, the IRS recently released the “Internal Revenue Service Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan.” This plan lays out explicit goals, as well as how they will be achieved. Even though it was a month and a half late for the Secretary of the Treasury’s six-month deadline, it serves as proof that there is some movement towards making paying taxes a simpler process for the taxpayer in the US.
In the plan, the IRS gave itself 5 primary objectives:[1]
Each of the 5 objectives is accompanied by several “initiatives” with multiple milestones and “key projects,” ultimately culminating in a 150-page report. While there are many listed initiatives, here are some that appear to be most relevant:
The plan claimed that the number of auditors currently employed represents a record low, unseen since the Second World War. They seek to change this, and estimate that an additional 10,021 full-time equivalents (FTEs) will be hired during Fiscal Year 2023, of whom 1,543 will be allocated to enforcement. For Fiscal Year 2024, 19,545 FTEs total would be employed, with 7,239 of them working specifically in enforcement.
The plan also gave some interesting statistics related to taxpaying in the US, it states that:
Plans change, and at the moment, the IRS plan is entirely aspirational. However, sufficient funds have been allocated for the IRS to make the program a reality. The project promises to refrain from auditing individuals with income of $400,000 or less at a rate higher than “historic levels,” but “historic levels” for those specific taxpayers were conspicuously absent from the report. Moreover, a major thrust of the plan is to return the audit rates for the wealthy taxpayers, again to “historic levels,” which appears to sit at about 10-times the current rate for some levels of income. If the “wealthy taxpayer” definition is applied to any taxpayers with income of $400,000 or less their audit rate could be up to triple the current rate. Due to the IRS failing to disclose the specific “historic levels” that they are referring to, the poorest taxpayers could have an audit rate nearly 20 times the current rate without technically violating the “historic level” ceiling.
If you have questions or concerns about how these news reports may affect you or your business, please contact The Burton Law Firm at: 916-822-8700 or email info@lawburton.com for a consultation.
[1] The IRS seeks reallocation of Inflation Reduction Act funds to devote $3.9 billion to “Energy Security” rather than the prescribed half billion for implementing Inflation Reduction Act energy tax incentives.
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California has required employers to “indemnify” employees for “necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer” in substantially the same terms since 1937 under Labor Code § 2802.
